Right-hander Donn Roach is hoping the sinker is his ticket to major leagues. Earnie Grafton • U-T

PEORIA, Ariz. 
The name Randy Jones first entered Donn Roach’s mind last season when the young right-handed starter was discussing the success he was having with his sinker with his father.

“My dad, who is a huge baseball fan, starts talking about this left-handed pitcher with the Padres years ago who dominated hitters with his sinker,” recalls the younger Donn Roach. “He starts talking about Randy Jones and what he did and I’m thinking I’d like to talk to Randy Jones.”

Ten days ago, Roach and Jones met for the first time when the Padres legend joined his former team as a spring training instructor.

Since then, the prospect and the Padres first Cy Young Award winner and 20-game winner have talked almost daily.

“The first time I watched Roach throw a bullpen, I thought, ‘He gets it’ ... sinker and slider, in and out,” said Jones. “I like him a lot. He pounds the strike zone. He’s ahead on the scale of understanding.

“He’s a right-handed Randy Jones.”

Whoa, there. Roach is 23. He has never pitched above Double-A.

But the Padres are intrigued by the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder they acquired along with infielder-outfielder Alexi Amarista last May 3 in the trade that sent homegrown reliever Ernesto Frieri to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

“There is legitimate sink in there,” Padres manager Bud Black said of Roach Monday after Roach threw two hitless innings against the Oakland A’s. “He doesn’t have to manipulate the ball to get it to sink.”

Roach retired the first four A’s he faced on grounders pounded into the infield. He issued a walk and had one strikeout in his second outing of a spring training that was delayed early by a hamstring issue.

Roach is not a candidate to make the Padres rotation this season. But the Padres don’t think he is that far away.

“I like him a lot,” Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley said of Roach, who was a combined 11-2 with a 1.88 earned run average in 16 starts at Single-A and Double-A last season before being shut down last July to limit his innings.

Roach said he started concentrating on his sinker last year.

“I have velocity,” said Roach.

“But velocity doesn’t work for me. I always had a two-seam fastball, but I never had the concept of a sinker. I just started figuring it out last year, I stopped trying to do too much ... and it’s become my go-to pitch.”

And Jones has become his go-to source.

“Randy is a great resource,” said Roach. “He’s very smart. He knew exactly what he had as a pitcher and developed great confidence in his pitches and his approach. He’s been talking to me about the glory of the sinker and about changing speeds even if velocity isn’t a major concern. That and hitting the corners with a slider.

“He’s helping me build confidence, although I’m still trying to figure out that 72-mile-an-hour thing he talks about.”

While Jones reveled in being able to get outs with his sinker at 72 mph, he recognizes that every pitcher is different and that it takes a sinker specialist time to build total confidence in the pitch.